Wimbledon organizers said that the Wimbledon championships "will protect its squeaky clean image with enhanced anti-doping and anti-corruption measures for this year's 130th tournament," according to Martyn Herman of REUTERS. Tennis was "rocked by allegations of match-fixing on the eve of this year's Australian Open and suffered another blow to its integrity when former Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova said in February she had failed a drugs test." The All England Club "pledged to beef up its safeguards against sport's two biggest threats." Measures will "include data streams and videos of all matches, including in qualifying events, enhanced data monitoring and player education as well as additional anti-doping controls to complement those already run at the tournament by the International Tennis Federation." All England Club CEO Richard Lewis said, "Whether it's integrity or anti-doping we feel we should enhance what we are doing. There has been lots of media scrutiny since January and it's appropriate that we respond accordingly." The Tennis Integrity Unit received no betting alerts during the '15 championships, but All England Club Chair Philip Brook said that the "prestigious tournament needed to safeguard public trust, admitting that the sport's image was under threat." Brook said, "We don't think there is a big issue but we will do whatever it takes to keep the sport clean" (REUTERS, 4/26). In London, Kevin Mitchell wrote Wimbledon is trying to "blow away the inconvenient cloud of corruption that nearly everyone else in tennis seems to find more threatening." Yet while "unseasonal snow flurries flicked at the grass outside," Brook "sought to deny the perception that the game’s authorities are complacent in responding to these problems." He said, "It’s safe to say it hasn’t been hurt." He pointed out that "the club was working closely as one of seven partners" -- along with the Association of Tennis Professionals, the Women’s Tennis Association, the ITF and the other three majors -- "to crack down on corruption." Brook said, "Wimbledon’s existing commitment to integrity in tennis and at the championships will be further reinforced with investment in a number of additional measures" (GUARDIAN, 4/26).
